yes, it does come furnished, though i'm not sure exactly what's included or what condition it's in.

According to the housing website, furnished apartments come w/ a twin size bed (full size for one bedrooms), a desk w/ chair, a dresser, and lamp for the bedroom. In the living/dining room, you get a couch and chair(s). In the eating area, you receive a table w/ chairs. I have a problem opposite in nature to everyone in an unfurnished apt....I have a sweet bedroom and living room set from Pottery Barn, yet no place to put it....tear.

I'd trade places with you in an instant. I find it odd that they didn't give contact info for my roomate. I mean, we'llneed to connect to figure out who's bringing what. Maybe that info comes later?

I'm looking for some help/perspective... Any insight would be welcome, either in comments or PMs. I just got my fin aid package (admitted late... off of waitlist), or complete lack there of. I thought that my well-below (seriously) US-average earnings and my parents (divorced) well-below and just above earnings (one parent has retirement savings; one parent has no retirement/savings whatsoever) would put me in the range of qualifying for SOMETHING. When I called the fin aid office to ask about the specifics of my financial info and package, it sounded like they were just reading off a script... "we use a complicated formula that takes everything into account..." I would really appreciate any insight into columbia's fin aid process--what type of $$ people got/didn't get, what their own approx $$ figures were. I realize that I'm asking for super personal info, and that this is old news for many (most?) people here, but if anyone has any insight/advice at all to offer I would VERY MUCH appreciate it.

I'm looking for some help/perspective... Any insight would be welcome, either in comments or PMs. I just got my fin aid package (admitted late... off of waitlist), or complete lack there of. I thought that my well-below (seriously) US-average earnings and my parents (divorced) well-below and just above earnings (one parent has retirement savings; one parent has no retirement/savings whatsoever) would put me in the range of qualifying for SOMETHING. When I called the fin aid office to ask about the specifics of my financial info and package, it sounded like they were just reading off a script... "we use a complicated formula that takes everything into account..." I would really appreciate any insight into columbia's fin aid process--what type of $$ people got/didn't get, what their own approx $$ figures were. I realize that I'm asking for super personal info, and that this is old news for many (most?) people here, but if anyone has any insight/advice at all to offer I would VERY MUCH appreciate it.

thanks...

The sense that I got from CLS fin aid was that it is 90% merit and maybe 10% need. Even though they are called scholarship-grants, I felt like it was virtually all scholarship. If you have a substantial scholarship elsewhere (for the most part) they seem pretty eager to match. I had 75k over 3 years at NYU (merit), e-mailed that to them, and they threw 60k over 3 years back at me. I thought the fin aid office at CLS was actually pretty good. I wasn't admitted until April, and they processed all my paperwork in 3 business days, and let me scan all of my and my parents' tax forms to them to expedite it.

That said it seems that CLS functions more like UVA in that need-based aid is virtually non-existent, although it seems most schools act this way. Interestingly enough, the ONLY school where I got need-based aid was HLS, and the aid was substantial (hurray for large endowments )

Out of curiousity did you get ANYTHING at all? Their lowest award (as far as I know) is 25k over 3 years...

The sense that I got from CLS fin aid was that it is 90% merit and maybe 10% need. Even though they are called scholarship-grants, I felt like it was virtually all scholarship. If you have a substantial scholarship elsewhere (for the most part) they seem pretty eager to match. I had 75k over 3 years at NYU (merit), e-mailed that to them, and they threw 60k over 3 years back at me. I thought the fin aid office at CLS was actually pretty good. I wasn't admitted until April, and they processed all my paperwork in 3 business days, and let me scan all of my and my parents' tax forms to them to expedite it.

That said it seems that CLS functions more like UVA in that need-based aid is virtually non-existent, although it seems most schools act this way. Interestingly enough, the ONLY school where I got need-based aid was HLS, and the aid was substantial (hurray for large endowments )

Out of curiousity did you get ANYTHING at all? Their lowest award (as far as I know) is 25k over 3 years...

steve your my hero for the day (other comments still welcome )

i got absolutely nothing... unless you count qualifying for federal loans. i guess the best solution is to get accepted off the waitlist at hls! hahasigh.

The sense that I got from CLS fin aid was that it is 90% merit and maybe 10% need. Even though they are called scholarship-grants, I felt like it was virtually all scholarship. If you have a substantial scholarship elsewhere (for the most part) they seem pretty eager to match. I had 75k over 3 years at NYU (merit), e-mailed that to them, and they threw 60k over 3 years back at me. I thought the fin aid office at CLS was actually pretty good. I wasn't admitted until April, and they processed all my paperwork in 3 business days, and let me scan all of my and my parents' tax forms to them to expedite it.

That said it seems that CLS functions more like UVA in that need-based aid is virtually non-existent, although it seems most schools act this way. Interestingly enough, the ONLY school where I got need-based aid was HLS, and the aid was substantial (hurray for large endowments )

Out of curiousity did you get ANYTHING at all? Their lowest award (as far as I know) is 25k over 3 years...

steve your my hero for the day (other comments still welcome )

i got absolutely nothing... unless you count qualifying for federal loans. i guess the best solution is to get accepted off the waitlist at hls! hahasigh.

Yeah I was really impressed by how fair HLS fin aid was...I mean they knew I was coming regardless, so they could have easily given me nothing...instead when coupled with COL they give me the best financial aid deal of those I got in the cycle...

I got the sense when talking to the financial aid people that unless you got a named scholarship, it was mostly through matching that they gave people scholarship-grants. I wish they took need into account more...

Speaking of money, what kinds of loans are people getting? I had initially thought the new Grad Plus loan was a good idea since the interest rate is fixed, but private loan interest rates seem to currently be lower although they may be more of a gamble since you get them at a variable rate. What does everyone think, and what did people decide to do?